Mantashe pats himself on the back while South Africa is plunged into darkness again
8 December 2022
While South Africans are subjected to Stage 6 rolling blackouts for the fourth time this year, Minister Mantashe showed off an award he received for “portraying great leadership in the energy sector.” In the typical fashion of the ANC-elite, Mantashe is seemingly unaware of the ridiculousness of his acts.
The inevitable and disastrous implementation of Stage 6 rolling blackouts by Eskom is a matter of grave concern to ActionSA. It is hardly believable that South Africa finds itself in a situation where almost half of the country’s electricity grid is offline, not for the first time this year.
With the further news that Koeberg’s Unit 1 will go offline for several months on Thursday afternoon and the 3,000MW’s worth of units at Kusile and Medupi being offline indefinitely, there is no hope that South Africa will soon be rid of the darkness that the ANC has plunged it into. In fact, we stand on the verge of Stage 7!
Notwithstanding the severe inconvenience the rolling blackouts cause in the lives of everyday South Africans, the long-term impact of Stage 6 loadshedding, which is estimated to cost our economy R3 billion per day. In a scenario where the cost of living and inflation is rapidly increasing, the additional cost of and damage caused by blackouts will only further entrench the hardships faced by millions of South Africans.
It is clear that the ANC has no plan or even intention of fixing the crisis, much like it has no plan or intention of fixing any of the many crises South Africa faces. Ever since Mbeki’s presidency, it was clear that South Africa needed to expand its grid capacity, yet the ANC-leadership was too busy enriching themselves to properly run our country.
The increased strain the grid currently faces provides a significant risk of collapse. This situation does not come a surprise, nor was it unavoidable: the ANC and Eskom has known for years that urgent action was required to protect South Africa’s energy security.
Any legitimate political party would have held those responsible for the current situation accountable for their actions. However, the ANC has proven time after time that it will never hold its own members accountable what is tantamount to criminal neglect. It is, after all, a criminal organisation masquerading as a political party.
While the ANC will never hold itself accountable, South Africans will have the opportunity to dispatch them into obscurity come 2024. ActionSA will be ready to work with all stakeholders that are interested in moving South Africa forward, and together we will build the South Africa that we all deserve.
Issued by Herman Mashaba, ActionSA President, 8 December 2022
